Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo
by phoward
Summary: Jessa was a 30-something-year-old mother going thru a divorce and the last thing she needed was to hash up the past when it came to her relationships (and lack of one), but that's exactly what she found herself doing one Friday night at bedtime due to her daughter's curiosity on how her parents met. (Definitely, Maybe inspired Modern AU) Pairings: Tolbert/OC, OC/OC, Perry/OC
1. The Birds & The Bees

***Author's Note***

**While working on the new chapter of Transcending Time I was watching the movie Definitely, Maybe which probably wasn't a great idea cause now I got this rom-com idea swimming around in my head. Yea, so here's a Definitely, Maybe inspired story. Except, unlike in that movie, Jessa and her ex-hubby are not gonna be on friendly terms. Considering who her hubby is from the list of contenders (Tolbert, Shaw, or Perry) they're not gonna part on good terms.**

**This story is just a project I'm doing to decompress from all of the angst I'm writing in TT. It's just a light/comical piece to clear my head with. **

**Face claim for my OC Jessa George is Jennie Jacques**

**Well, here goes nothing...**

* * *

**The Birds & The Bees**

The papers sat on her desk mocking her, reminding her that the last decade was a complete and utter waste. She eyed the papers that were titled _Divorce Agreement_ and let out a heavy sigh. She knew that she needed to sign them and return them to the lawyer overseeing everything between her and her ex, but her work at the publishing firm reading and editing book transcripts kept her busy. It was almost 3 in the afternoon whenever her iPhone rang with her ex's assigned ringtone. _What could he want? He's supposed to be heading down to the school to pick up Rosie for his weekend visit. _She thought to herself as she picked up her phone from her desk. Not thinking anymore on the matter, she hit the green accept button and held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

A velvet timbre sounded over the phone with, _"Jessa, something came up and I can't get Rosie." _

"Okay, so you're going to be picking her up later from my place for the visitation?"

"_No."_

_No?... _"Why?" Jessa quickly asked curious to know the reason her ex was bailing on their daughter.

"_Something came up." _Was the excuse that Jessa's ex made. An excuse that could be taken any which way.

"With the brewery or…?" She asked, leaving an open space to allude to the other woman that was the reason for their split.

"_Just bring Rosie to Central Park in the morning; I'll pick her up there."_

"Fine." Jessa relented in a sigh.

"_Oh, did you hand the papers to the lawyer yet?"_ The man asked, a nagging tone in his velvet smooth voice.

"No, I was going to drop them off tonight after work." She lied, having no intent to do such thing since she was avoiding the divorce papers like the bubonic plague.

"_Okay."_ The man said in a way that hinted he was nodding his head on the other side of the phone. _"Bye."_ He hung up, not even giving his soon-to-be ex-wife a chance to reciprocate his goodbye.

_Well, looks like I need to sign these damn things on the dotted lines and turn them in. No use putting it off any longer, the marriage is as dead as a doornail. _She thought, reaching her hand over to grab the papers that would make her a free woman; set her surname back to her maiden name of George. A name she never thought she'd be using again, but sure enough would be for the unforeseeable future.

Grabbing a pen, she quickly signed and initialed at the prompted places. With a sigh, she packed up her laptop and shoved the divorce papers into a manilla folder. Since she had the luxury of being able to bring work home and do it (being a proof reader for an editing company and all that jazz) Jessa decided to leave her office at the publishing house in order to reach the charter school that her daughter went to in time to pick her up.

Oh boy, nothing would've prepared her for what she'd be dealing with when she picked up her daughter. The fates were smart to have her pick up Rosie instead of her ex, a man that had a firecracker temper.

* * *

Clutching tightly to the straps of her laptop case and her Dooney & Bourke hobo bag that were slung over her shoulder, Jessa walked up the pathway breaking away from the main Manhattan sidewalk leading up to _William T. Sherman Charter School_. She noticed how fathers paled as their children shoved books into their faces and asked them a barrage of questions while mothers looked about ready to pass out from shock as they looked at the books their children handed them; listening wide-eyed to the questions being asked.

Jessa wondered what had all the parents and children in a frenzy, but she didn't have to wait too long to find out because before she could reach the door of the school her very own daughter came barreling out of the door, her dark curly hair flying behind hair like a cape flapping in the wind, holding a new textbook in hand. "Mama, we learnt 'bout sexual education today." Rosie blurted out proudly, not understanding the impact her statement would have on her mother, as she shoved a book titled _Beyond The Birds & The Bees: A New Era Of Sexual Education _into Jessa's face.

Grabbing the book with one hand and her daughter's hand with the other, Jessa let out a shriek of, "But you're only in third grade! This is not appropriate for you to learn right now."

"Teacher says it's time for us to be educated cause next year some of us girls will get our menstrual cycles." Rosie chirped, reminding Jessa of ZuZu from _It's a Wonderful Life_ informing George Bailey about angels getting their wings everything a bell rings.

_Dear god, what kind of new-age fucked up school did my ex convince me to enroll our kid in? Holy hell… _Jessa thought to herself as she walked quicker down the street with her daughter, praying that god would spare her from this painful event of having to deal with sex-ed before the appropriate age and time for it. "I doubt it, sweetie. I didn't get mine til I was in 7th or 8th grade."

"Oh, you were what is called a late bloomer." The little girl said nonchalantly. Looking at her mother as they came to a crosswalk, Jessa asked, "Does that mean you were late growing boobs too?"

_Jesus…why me? Oh lord if you truly exist why is this happening to me right now? _"Rosie…" Jessa warned under her breath, trying to maintain a calm and collective mindset that she wasn't sure she had in her at the moment. Not with how her day was.

"The book says that a clitoris is essential in sexual relations, but why's that? It doesn't look like anything in the picture." Rosie rambled on as her mother hit the button on the crosswalk sign and waited for it to flash the green walking man; to say walking was permitted.

"Jesus Christ, there's a picture in there of a-" Jessa began to react while crossing the street with her daughter, only to be interrupted by said daughter saying informatively, "Not a real picture, mama, but a diagram of the vagina in the book you stole from me."

"Great…" Jessa sighed sarcastically as she walked up the sidewalk with her child, inwardly hating the fact that her daughter was learning something she felt was too mature for a third grader to know about.

"There's also a diagram of the penis and testicles in the book too."

"Of course, there is." Jessa deadpanned, feeling mortified that her third grade daughter knew what the male anatomy looked like thanks's to her teacher, Mrs. Jones, teaching sex ed.

"How many thrusts does it for the penis to ejaculate?" Rosie blurted out as they walked up to their large building in downtown Manhattan (a few blocks away from the charter school too).

"Roseanna Elmyra!" Jessa scolded her daughter, giving her a hard-narrowed look that screamed 'don't say that in public', while their doorman held the door to their condo complex open.

"But the books says that during sexual intercourse the penis, after an amount of thrusts, ejaculates sperm into the womb and then the sperm penetrates an egg to fertilize it and create a baby." Rosie told her mother in one of those 'but I didn't do anything wrong tones' as they walked past the doorman (who was biting his lip to keep from laughing cause this wasn't the first time he heard this kind of conversation between parents whose children attend the nearby charter school and wouldn't be the last either) and towards the elevator banks.

"Rosie, we'll talk about what's in the book later once we're inside our unit." Jessa told her daughter, stopping at the elevators and hitting the up button to request one.

"Okay." Rosie nodded, watching the buttons light up as the elevator descended to the lobby. The calm always comes before the storm and that's what the silence was between Jessa and Rosie. Right as the elevator dung and the doors flew open, Jessa ushered her daughter inside of the metal box. The shock factor happened right as Jessa pressed the button for her floor. Right when Rosie looked up at her and said in a long ramble, "Oh, Bobby Stevensen said that his older brother was an accident, but how could that be cause I don't think his dad's penis accidently slipped into his mom's vagina."

"He meant that his mom getting pregnant was the accident, not his parents having sex." Flew out of Jessa mouth before she could think better of it.

Rosie's jaw trembled and tears began to prick at her indigo eyes as she asked in a squeak, "Was I an accident?"

"No. Oh god, no, Rosie." Quickly flew out of Jessa's mouth. Quickly, she bent down so she was at eye level with the girl. "Now you listen to me, you were wanted and we knew what we were getting into when I got pregnant." Actually, that was a half-truth. Jessa knew what she was getting into, but her ex wasn't so sure. He was just having a baby cause she wanted one, but Jessa couldn't tell her 8 ½ year old that tho, so she chose to sugarcoat the truth.

"Okay." Rosie nodded, seeming to accept her mom's answer. She just couldn't leave it at that tho, no Rosie had to press on with the question of, "But why would Bobby's parents have sex if they didn't want an accident?"

"Um, they were practicing for when they were ready for Bobby, but something went wrong and his brother popped up."

"Oh…"

"Now, let's get to our unit so you can do homework and I can order us some Chinese for dinner." Jessa told her daughter as they walked out of the elevator and onto their floor.

"We don't have any homework, mom. Our winter break starts today." Rosie said in a 'duh' type tone.

"Didn't your teacher assign you a book to read and write a report on or something?" Jessa asked her daughter since she doubted teachers stopped assigning book reports over holidays.

"Yea, the birds and the bees book."

"Of course, she did…"

"So is daddy picking me up after dinner or is he having dinner with us?" Rosie innocently asked as the neighbor, Mrs. Brooks, walked by her yapping demon of a Chihuahua. The dog was a little terror that snapped, barked, and growled at anyone it saw. It was a 5lb beast with a rhinestone collar, something that was a bit terrifying and contradicting at the same time.

"He's not picking you up until tomorrow morning at Central Park." Jessa told her daughter as they reached their door.

"But why? I was supposed to stay the night at his house tonight." Rosie protested in disappointment as Jessa grabbed her keys out of her purse.

_Yea, that lovely place in the Bronx he somehow swindled the landlord into giving him a good rental price on. Oh, yea, that's right, promising him apple pie whiskey was how he managed to do the swindling. _Jessa darkly thought while opening up the door. "Something came up."

"Oh…" The little girl sighed as her mother pushed the door open and moved aside, gesturing for her to go inside first. After walking thru the door marked 1108, Rosie rushed to her room with a shout of "I'm gonna watch the Mandalorian on Disney+!"; leaving Jessa to walk over to the hall tree all by herself.

"The new episode dropped with a sneak peak of _The Rise Of Skywalker_!" Jessa shouted back to her daughter, causing an excited shrill to echo from the hallway the little girl's bedroom was in, as she pulled her bags off her shoulder and placed them on the bench of the hall tree. _Dear god, I wonder if Allie's had to deal with this down in Ocean City? _Jessa thought to herself as sat down and took off her heeled boots. _I should probably call her and find out._

* * *

"_No, my son's school doesn't teach elementary school kids sex ed." _Allie, Jessa's best friend, said over the phone before letting out a drawn out half-laugh of,_ "Damn, I knew that New York City was fast, but I didn't think it was that fast." _

"This isn't funny, Allie. This is mortifying. I mean she was asking and talking about stuff that we didn't even know until freshman year of high school." Jessa told her best friend as she somehow managed to sink even further into her overstuffed sofa.

"_Oh, wow…" _The friend sighed before asking, _"Did you tell your ex about this? If so, is he ready to make a big stink with the schoolboard?"_

"No, I didn't tell him. I don't know if I will either." Jessa admitted in a dreadful sigh.

"_Cause of his bad temper and you don't want to be known as the ex-wife of the crazy dad that goes off the rails about sex ed." _Allie stated, not asked, her girlhood friend.

"Yea."

"_Thank god it wasn't his Friday to get her or else he'd blown a gasket and skinned that teacher alive." _Jessa's friend remarked in a relieved giggle that had one of those 'look on the brightside' type undertones to it.

"Actually, it is his Friday, but he just cancelled the pickup til tomorrow morning."

_"Why, he gotta take his whore out to dinner?"_

"Allie!" Jessa exclaimed, shooting up in her sofa in a bough of shock. She just couldn't believe that her oldest friend had made a remark about her ex's infidelity with the stripper from one of the many stripclubs that took up space in NYC.

"_What? It's the truth and we both know it."_

"I called to ask if your son's school taught sex ed to third graders, not to talk about my soon-to-be ex-husband." Jessa deadpanned, not in the mood to be talking about her ex. Hell, it'd been 5-or-6 months since they split and it still felt like a raw wound.

"_You know that my husband's cousin is single and as unlucky in love as you are. Maybe you should bring Rosie down to Ocean City for Christmas dinner and meet him." _Allie suggested in a sweet, but calculating tone.

"Is this the same cousin of Will's that you were trying to set me up with at your wedding? The one that was a no show?" Jessa asked in an unimpressed sigh as she slopped down into her couch cushions.

"_Yea, it's the same guy." _Confirmed Allie, causing Jessa to silently groan and roll her eyes.

"Um, no. I think I'll pass on the blind date."

"_He lives in New York; has a good job at one of the colleges too." _Allie pressed on instead of accepting no as an answer.

"No, Allie." Jessa firmly told her friend right as a knock sounded at her door. "That's the Chinese, I gotta go." She told her friend before hanging up and rushing over to the door.

Quickly, Jessa opened the door and paid the delivery man from _Joy Luck _for the bag of food. After shutting her door, she announced that dinner was ready and took the food into the kitchen. While she was taking Chinese containers out of the brown paper bag on the counter, her daughter emerged from the hall. The little girl's nose sniffed the air with excitement, since she loved takeout from _Joy Luck_, as she rushed over to the breakfast bar. Rosie eagerly watched as her mom grabbed their soda cans (Coke for Jessa and Sprite for Rosie) out of the bags. The little girl took her Sprite and opened it while her mom finished divvying out the food and took her own seat at the breakfast bar.

Dinner was a quiet affair between the mother and daughter. It was clear as day to Jessa that Rosie was disappointed that her dad wasn't able to pick her up like he was supposed to on the Friday nights that fell on his assigned visitation weekends. Weekends that gave him Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday with his daughter only to bring her to school bright and early on Monday morning. It was what Jessa and her ex's lawyers came up with since her ex didn't want to be bothered dealing with his daughter longer then he had too. Hell, him keeping his daughter longer then a weekend would cause him to combust since he wasn't very nurturing, but was more of a rugged working man type. He was a good dad in his own way, but ever since the divorce got underway, he'd been faltering in that role.

Suddenly the silence at the breakfast bar was broken by Rosie asking, "Do you think my daddy's alone right now eating or stuck at work? I mean he does work a lot at that beer garden."

"I dunno, sweetie." Jessa, keeping her face as straight as she could, as she pulled some chicken chow mein out with her chopsticks.

Digging around her box for a stubborn piece of broccoli that didn't want to stay in her chopsticks, the girl asked, "Am I getting presents from Santa here and at my daddy's house or just here?"

"Rosie, why do you keep calling him my daddy? Daddy's just fine."

"Cause he used to be ours, but now he's not ours anymore, just mine so he's my daddy." Rosie answered as if what she was saying was the simplest thing in the world.

"Okay, sweetie." Jessa dismissed her daughter's logic with a nod as she poked around in her container with her chopsticks.

"Why did you marry my daddy?" Rosie asked out of the blue, placing her container down and grabbing her can of Sprite.

"Um, cause I fell in love with him."

"Why?" The little girl pressed, wanting a better answer then the one she got, as she placed her can down with a soft clink.

"Cause I just did."

"But there has to be a reason why. There has to be a story about why you fell in love with him."

"I'm not telling you that story, Rosie." Jessa firmly told her daughter, placing her food down and picking her Coke up.

"Why not? Other kids know how their parents met and fell in love." Rosie protested instead of eating her Chinese takeout.

After taking a sip of her Coke, Jessa placed the can down and told her daughter, "It's not important. Now, finish your dinner."

"But mom-" Rosie tried to protest only for Jessa to give her a firm look while cutting her off with, "I'm not playing, Roseanna. Finish your food."

Rosie just nodded and did as she was told, even tho she had no intentions of dropping the subject about her parents' love story.

* * *

"Mama, I don't want to hear the story about Scrooge, I want to hear the story of how you met and fell in love with my daddy." Rosie blurted out as her mom was about to grab _A Christmas Carol_ from the bookcase a few feet away from the bed that took up the middle of the room.

Letting out a sigh and turning to face her daughter, Jessa asked, "Why?"

"Cause I wanna know how you met and fell in love with daddy; why you had me with him." The little girl honestly told her mom while she crossed the room and took a seat on the edge of the teal bedspread.

"It's a complicated story, Rosie." Jessa sighed, patting her daughter's hand lightly.

Bolting up and giving her mom a wide-eyed look, Rosie rambled out the questions of, "Why? Were there a lot of boyfriends involved? Oh, no, Mama, were you what they call promiscuous?"

Jessa shook her head, a faint line of reminisce appearing over her lips in a ghostly smile. "No, that was actually my best friend."

"Oh no, Auntie Allie was per-" Rosie began only for Jessa to cut her off with the confession of, "No, I used to have a best friend that was a guy before I married your dad."

Learning that Auntie Allie wasn't just her mom's only best friend peaked the little girl's interest. Bouncing up and down with excitement, Rosie begged, "Ooo, Mama, please tell me more."

"Fine," Jessa relented with a sigh before quickly adding in the clause of, "but there's three guys in this story and I'm not telling you what one's your dad. You've got to figure it out for yourself."

"Oh, so it's like a love mystery. So cool."

"It's more of a love eeny meeny miny mo." Jessa mutter under her breath before telling her daughter, "Oh, and I'm changing the names."

"Okay." Rosie simply said, flopping back onto her large collection of plush bed pillows in order to get comfy for story time.

"Now, this story begins back during a time when there wasn't any Facebook, Skype, Twitter, TikTok, iPhone, or any of the things you've grown up with. Back when things were simple and cds were all the rage with clunky walkmans and big earphones that were the size of earmuffs." Jessa said, earning her a nod from her daughter. Rosie seemed to be intrigued by her mother's story intro. "Anyways, I was 18 and had just moved to Kentucky from Oklahoma for college-"

Only a minute or so in, Rosie interrupted her mom's story with, "Why Kentucky? Isn't that place nothing but rednecks, coal, and moonshine?"

"I see your dad thinks so highly of that state…" Jessa mutter under her breath before telling her daughter, "The University of Kentucky in Lexington has one of the most respected English programs in the country, that's why I went there."

"Oh, okay." Rosie shrugged, grabbing her favorite stuffed bear and hugging it.

"Back to what I was saying, I was 18 and had just moved to Kentucky from Oklahoma for college and didn't know anybody, but my roommate Misty. Misty, as luck would have it, was a social butterfly and insisted that we pledge during Rush Week at the Sororities and Fraternities. One of the events of rush week for potential pledges was party hopping at the different houses to meet the different girls of the sororities lined up on Greek Row."

_**Beginning of Flashback…**_

"Oh god, does this dress make me look like a hoochie?" Jessa asked her blonde roommate, who was putting on a thick layer of smoky eye makeup, as she walked into their dorm bathroom a bit hesitantly. She pulled at the high hem of her tight white dress (that she was borrowing from Misty by the way)

_**Flashback Interuption…**_

"Mama, what's a hoochie?" Rosie asked, interrupting her mother's flashback/story.

"Um, one of those girls that dance in rap videos." Jessa quickly told her daughter, hoping her answer would suffice the young girl since she didn't want to get into the real definition of a hoochie.

"Okay. So, did you look like a hoochie?"

"No and don't say hoochie anymore. Hell, your dad'll throw a fight if he heard you talking like that."

"Okay. So back to the story. You just asked your roommate Misty if you looked like a hoochie."

"Yes, I just asked Misty if I looked like a hoochie and she said…"

_**Flashback Resumed…**_

"Of course not, you look hot." Misty replied, not even batting a thick overly coated black fake eyelash, while drawing a line of eyeliner so thick around her blue eyes that it'd make the pirate Jack Sparrow himself jealous. "You need to do your hair and makeup so we can go and get some bids for these houses." The blonde, who was squeezed into a skintight red dress, told Jessa while pointing to the makeup and hair products scattered all over the bathroom.

"Um, I don't wear much makeup." The girl from the south west admitted as her eyes landed nervously on all of the makeup her roommate had on the counter.

"Well, that's gonna change as of now. Oh, just sit down and I'll make you look hot as hell."

After half an hour or so, Misty was done with Jessa's hair and makeup. The girls were ready to hit up Greek Row.

* * *

Jessa's feet were on the verge of blistering as Misty drug her to the 5th sorority house of the night, Delta Gamma, for their night of rush parties. Misty, being the outgoing party girl that she was, left Jessa as soon as they crossed the threshold in order to mingle with the Delta Gamma sisters; to compete for a spot in their sisterhood. Jessa, feeling out of place in a house full of girls that all looked like they were carved out of cream cheese and could be in the running for Miss America, ended up making her way to the kitchen where the drinks (alcoholic of course) were at. Having to deal with at least 3 more rush parties, the brunette decided that she needed a liquid pick me up.

She was shocked to see a man in the kitchen unloading mason jars out of a crate, causing her to go up to his side and ask, "Um, what're you doing?"

"Deliverin' shine, why these drunk whores don't want it anymore?" The man barked, looking at Jessa with a tired and irritated look.

"Um, I dunno, I'm just a pledge or at least I'm hoping to pledge." Jessa told the man, hoping that she didn't sound as awkward as she felt since she was not much of a social butterfly and wasn't that great in large crowds or around cute guys.

"Ah…I see…" The man nodded his head. Extending his hand out for a shake, he introduced himself with, "I'm-"

_**Flashback Interuption…**_

"Sam." Rosie blurted out.

"Sam? You want to call him Sam?" Jessa asked, finding it amusing that her daughter wanted to name her college sweetheart since she told the girl she was changing the names in the story.

"Yea."

"Okay. Sam it is."

_**Flashback Resumed…**_

"I'm Jessa." She smiled, taking his hand in hers and giving it a light shake.

"I got a few more deliveries to make on this street, but if ya don't mind I can escort you to the other houses cause I'm sure they're on my shine list." The man smiled.

Feeling her heart racing, Jessa smiled back. "Um, sure, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind; my truck's parked by the gate."

"Thank god, I don't think my feet can last any longer in these heels."

Sam let out a silent chuckle before tilting his head and saying, "Come on, darlin', Delta Zeta's next on the list."

And with that, Jessa followed Sam out of the kitchen and then out of the house to his truck.

* * *

**AN:**

**Can anyone guess who 'Sam' is? Anyways, hope you guys liked this. I'm off to do more work on Transcending Time now. Oh, and Happy New Year!**


	2. Moonlight Walks

***Author's Note***

**Thanks for the reviews.**

* * *

**Moonlight Walks **

After the last sorority house party, Jessa found herself walking around Greek Row with Sam. Since her feet were killing her, she was carrying her heels and walking barefoot. Sam looked out of place in Greek Row with his mudd-scuffed boots and his flannel button down. It was clear to anyone that walked by that he wasn't trying to pledge at a frat, that he had to just be passing by.

Looking at Jessa with concern in his eyes, Sam said, "Ya know we could just take a ride in my truck and talk. Might be easier on your feet."

"I know, but the moon and stars are so beautiful tonight. Also, the street looks like something out of a book about ancient Greece or Rome with all of the large houses." Jessa dismissed Sam's concern with a dreamy smile since she was truly in awe on how beautiful Greek Row looked in the moonlight.

"If you're into ancient Greek and Roman stuff ya should see 300 or the Gladiator." Sam advised in a light and thoughtful tone.

"I've seen them." Jessa informed him as they walked side by side down a street that was a buzz with Greek pledge hopefuls.

Sam nodded with a lingering sigh of, "Ah…"

"So, do you work for a liquor store or something?"

"What?"

"You were delivering mason jars full of alcohol to all of the rush parties."

"Oh, that. I don't work for a liquor store per say, but I'm in the alcohol business."

_**Flashback Interrupted…**_

"Sam was a moonshiner like those guys on Discovery Channel, wasn't he?" Rosie loudly blurted out, catching her mother off guard.

"Rosie, I hope you don't watch that show." Shaking her head, Jessa muttered, "Sam's Hill, your dad'll have a cow if he caught you watching it."

"Well, guess Sam's not my daddy."

Jessa furrowed her brows at the little girl next to her. "Why'd you say that for, Rosie?"

"Cause he's a moonshiner and that's illegal, Mama." Was the little girl's simple answer. Looking up at her mother, she went on to say in a logical tone, "He's prolly locked up in jail right now in Kentucky and if not then he's on that tv show, but I think he's in jail for illegal shine making."

"Rosie…" Jessa sighed, not quite knowing how to react to her daughter's remark. _She's too smart for her age. _Jessa thought to herself before asking Rosie, "Do you want to hear how Sam asked me out?"

"Yes, of course I do, mama." Rosie told her mom in a duh type tone.

"Okay, then I'll continue the story."

_**Flashback Resumed…**_

Jessa nodded, letting out a tiny, "Oh."

Sam smirked before going on to ask, "So, where ya from? You don't have a Kentucky accent."

"Tulsa, Oklahoma." Jessa simply answered.

"Oklahoma!" His eyes popped out of his head. "And you came all the way out here for school?"

"Yes, UK has a very respective English program."

"That's your major then, English?" Sam asked even tho the answer was pretty clear that, yes, Jessa's major was English.

"Yea. I want to do something with books after I graduated."

"Oh, that makes sense." The man nodded, sounding a bit like a nervous fool.

Looking over at the cute man by her side, Jessa asked, "What about you, are you in school?"

"I'm taking a few classes here and there at a Junior College." Sam answered with a slight tilt of

"Oh, what're you studying?"

"Business. Most of the men in my family either own or work in a family business so it was just a no brainer to study it." Sam told Jessa as they walked slowly side by side. Coming to a stop close to his truck, after walking endless circles around Greek Row, Sam asked, "You want to grab something to eat. Taco Bell's open late."

Even tho Jessa just met him, Sam seemed nice and she was starving, so she accepted his offer with a quick head nod and a blurted out, "Yes."

Sam just nodded, thankful that the beautiful girl he'd just met said yes, before heading over to his truck. Jessa quietly followed him, inwardly beaming with excitement since she'd just met a cute guy that seemed nice. A guy that had taken an instant interest in her.

* * *

Rosie made a sour face as she criticed Sam with the bold remark of, "Oh, he doesn't sound very romantic, mama. Taco Bell isn't somewhere to take a girl you like. Not unless you wanna fart in front of her and that's just…yuck."

"Yea…well, he was my college sweetheart so he must've been something for me to be with him so long." Jessa remarked in a half flat tone as she fought to keep herself from shaking her head.

"How long were you with him, mama?"

"Four Years."

"Four Years?"

"Yep." Jessa popped her tongue.

Rosie made a weird face while blurting out, "But why? He wasn't romantic."

"Well, he was actually thoughtful." Jessa told her daughter before continuing her story with, "I'd been at UK for a couple of months; I was insanely busy with school and pledge classes for Delta Gamma that the time I spent with Sam seemed to be far and in between. I felt bad when I had to cancel a date due to a late study session or having to work on a class project, but Sam never seemed to mind. He always talked to me on the phone, always assuring me that we'd see each other when we had time since we were both busy in our everyday lives."

"I think he was busy hiding from the cops cause moonshine's illegal." Rosie loudly blurted out before her mother could get too far gone into the story.

"Rosie…" Jessa warned her daughter, causing the little girl to make a zipping her lips motion before nodding for her mom to continue the story. "Well, it was my birthday and I wasn't expecting anything since my family was back in Tulsa and my girlhood best friend was at some Big 10 college in the Northeast.

**Flashback Resumed…**

Jessa was sitting on her bed in her dorm studying whenever a knock sounded at her door. Her roommate was in class and she wasn't expecting anybody, since her boyfriend lived a couple hours away, so she was startled by the knock at her door. _Wonder who's there. _Jessa thought to herself, closing her Freshman Composition textbook and placing it onto her bed. Quickly, she stood up and crossed her small dorm room to reach the door. When she opened the door, her jaw dropped in surprise as she took in the site of Sam standing in her doorway holding a bag from _Barnes & Noble_ in one hand and McDonalds takeout in the other.

"Oh my god, Sam, what're you doing here? I thought you had to work?"

"Finished up everything yesterday. 'Sides, I needed to see you to give ya your birthday present."

"Thank you so much." Jessa smiled at Sam, taking the bookstore bag from him. "I wasn't expecting anything for my birthday." She hugged him, showing him that she was thankful for both the present and him just being there.

"How 'bout we go inside. I got some Big Mac meals that are gettin' cold." Sam smirked, tilting his head at the drink carrier and fast-food bag in his right hand.

"Oh, of course. Come in and we'll eat." Jessa smiled, moving aside so that Sam could walk into her dorm room.

"What side's yours?" He asked as his head darted back and forth between the two walls that were as opposite as can be. One side of the room had Chicago and Toto posters on the wall while the other had a poster of Britney Spears. One bed had simple bedding while the other had bedding full of ruffles.

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

"Oh, mama, please tell me that you didn't have the ruffly bedding. Please." Rosie begged her mother since she knew that ruffles were for babies and kindergarteners and was mortified at the thought of her mom having kindergarten girl bedding while in college.

"Don't worry, Rosie, I didn't have the ruffly bedding." Jessa ssured her daughter before letting out a half-giggle of, "That was all Misty."

"Oh good, for a moment there I was worried, mama." Rosie let out in an overexaggerated whoosh of relief.

Jessa just shook her head at her daughter. "Anyways, back to the story."

_**Flashback Resumed…**_

"The right side." Jessa answered, earning her a simple nod from Sam as she closed her door.

"Hmm, I'm more of a country man myself." Sam mused as he made his way over to Jessa's side of the room.

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

"Oh mama, you hate country music so no way is Sam my daddy." Rosie blurted out matter-of-factly as she sat up straight in the middle of her bed.

"Sweetie, do you want to hear how my birthday surprise went or not?" Jessa asked her daughter in one of those 'if you don't settle I'm done talkin' type of tones.

"Course I wanna hear 'bout it, mama." Rosie quickly answered, giving her mom a 'duh' look.

"Then calm down so I can tell the story." Jessa advised her little girl, patting her on the back.

Instead of calming down, Rosie defended her interruptions with, "But I was just saying how he can't be my daddy cause he likes country and you don't. Actually, daddy never listens to music so Sam can't be my daddy."

_Dear god why me? How did I get myself into this? _Jessa thought to herself while her daughter scrambled off the bed. "Where are you going, Rosie?" She asked as her daughter made a beeline to the large white bookshelf that was pressed against the wall.

"I need some paper and a crayon to take notes with." Rosie told her mom as if her answer was a no brainer while scanning the shelf that had all of her coloring supplies on it.

"Why?" Jessa asked as her daughter grabbed her box of crayons.

"So I can take notes about the boys to figure out what one became my daddy." Rosie answered her mom while grabbing a purple crayon from the box and a pad of paper from the shelf. "I already know that Sam's not really on the top of the list." The little girl added, running back over to her bed and jumping on it.

"Why, cause of the country music?" Jessa asked while her daughter wrote Sam's name down; creating a column for him on the paper.

"Yea." Rosie nodded, scribbling country music underneath Sam's column before making two other columns. She left them blank tho since she didn't know the names of the other contenders yet.

Once her daughter had put down her paper and crayon, Jessa asked, "Can I continue?"

"Yes, please continue." Rosie eagerly nodded her head, in turn causing Jessa to pick up where she left off with the story.

_**Flashback Resumed…**_

"Oh, I don't really like country." Jessa admitted to Sam, making her way over to her bed while he set their food and drinks down on the small bedside table.

"You're from Oklahoma, but don't like country?" He asked, giving her an incredulous look, while sitting on her bed.

"Yea." Jessa sheepishly nodded, taking a seat next to her boyfriend.

"Damn, you're full of surprises. I'll give ya that." Sam chuckled as he started to take the food out of the bag. "You should open your gift." He suggested before quickly adding in, "I'll think you'll like it."

Jessa just nodded and took a large book (which was wrapped in _Happy Birthday_ paper out of the bookstore bag. Quickly, she tore into the gift while Same popped a fry into his mouth. Lord and behold she found herself holding the newest book in the Harry Potter series, _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. _Jessa couldn't believe it, she loved Harry Potter and only mentioned it once in passing to Sam so him buying her the newest book made her heart soar with love for him. Setting the book down, Jessa jumped on Sam (nearly making him drop his food) and gave him a big hug. Kissing him on the cheek, she smiled, "Thank you, Sam. I love the book."

"I was kinda hoping that'd be the case." Sam smirked, knowing in his gut that he's successfully won over the girl of his dreams.

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

"He gave you that Harry Potter book that's on the living room bookshelf? Oh, wow, guess there's hope for him yet to be my daddy."

"Guess so." Jessa shrugged, a line of a smile appearing on her lips.

"So, what happened after your birthday?" Rosie curiously asked, hoping that whatever came next in the story would be good.

"How 'bout I tell you after getting us some story time snacks."

"Okay." Rosie nodded her head, causing her mom to just smile before standing up and heading into the kitchen to grab some juice boxes and fruit snacks.

* * *

After returning to her daughter's room with an armful of snacks (healthy child approved ones), Jessa resumed her story. A story that she hadn't thought of in years. One that was making her remember all of the times she had with her college sweetheart. Popping a straw into a juice box and handing it to her daughter, Jessa said, "After my birthday me and Sam were always together or at least that's how it seemed."

_**Flashback Resumed…**_

Ever since her birthday, Sam and Jessa seemed to be inseparable. They spent nearly every moment together that they could. He even moved to Lexington to be with her, which meant that he had to travel work for. Jessa, after her pledge period at the sorority, was able to move into the Delta Gamma house. Once again Jessa found herself rooming with Misty since the girl had also made the choice to move into the sorority house.

Sam made sure that he was at every party Delta Gamma held. Whether it was to keep an eye on Jessa or to make shine deliveries, she wasn't sure, but she didn't mind either way since he was around. Jessa loved having a boyfriend that was devoted to her.

She'd been with him for a few months and it was now New Year's Eve. Delta Gamma was holding a large party. The theme was simple, but elegant as it was a _Black Tie Affair. _Most of the girls went with black dresses, in order to fit the them, and Jessa was no different. She wore a black mini with silver trim that was so scandalous that it looked more like a tunic top then a dress. But the shorter the better was all the rage; Misty had even insisted that Jessa needed to wear the dress since she had a hot boyfriend to take care of.

Various frat boys and the boyfriends of the Delta Gamma girls were at the party too, all dressed in correspondence with the theme too. Of course, Sam was there, even surprising Jessa by wearing a suit. When she voiced her shock about the suit, he just waved it off with, "I had the thing in the closet leftover from prom a few years back. Not like I went out and bought the thing for tonight's party."

"But, still, Sam, it means a lot that you dressed up cause I know you hate dressing up."

Sam just shrugged before suggesting, "Let's go get some drinks and take a walk."

"You wanna take a walk instead of being at the party?" Jessa asked a bit flatly, one of her brows arched oddly at her boyfriend.

"Yea." Sam nodded before heading off into the direction of the kitchen.

Jessa just followed behind him while her roommate, Misty, just flashed her a smile before going back to her task of flirting with some Kappa guy dressed in a black Gatsby styled suit.

* * *

Jessa didn't mind walking around Greek Row with Sam, she did love spending time with him after all, but she was a bit disappointed that she was missing out on her sorority's New Year's Eve party. So much so that she wan't paying attention to what Sam was saying, causing him to pull her to a halting stop and bark, "Jessa?"

Coming to her senses, Jessa looked at Sam and asked, "What is it?"

"I said that I wanted to marry you and ya didn't say a word."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I was spacing out." Jessa apologized in a ramble, her voice squeaking with embarrassment with every word she said.

"Well, do you wanna marry me or not?"

"Yes, of course, I want to marry you." Jessa answered with a large smile spread across her beautiful (and overly made-up) face.

"Oh, thank god." Sam sighed out in relief as he took a small box out of his pocket. After opening up the box (revealing a simple diamond ring), he took the ring and slid it onto Jessa's left ring finger while telling her, "If you'd 've said no I'd be making a trip to the pawn shop to get rid of this ring."

"You didn't buy my ring from a pawn shop, did you?"

"No. I went to a jewelry store; just meant if you said no I'd pawn it cause I wouldn't have any use for it."

_**Flashback Interruption…**_

"He totally got the ring from the pawn shop." Rosie told her mother, an unmoving tone in her small girly voice, as she scribbled down the words pawn shop ring and lame proposal underneath Sam's row on her paper.

"Rosie, he said he didn't so I gave him the benefit of the doubt."

"Okay, so what happened with you and Sam?" Rosie asked, grabbing her juice box from the bedside table and taking a sip of it.

"Well, we ended up moving in together for the last 3-years of college." Jessa answered, sipping on her own juice box.

"Ok. What was that like?"

Placing her half-empty juice box onto the bedside table (right next to her daughter's) Jessa asked, "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"I mean did you guys fight like you and daddy did or was it heavenly bliss like with those people in Hallmark Holiday movies?" Rosie asked, placing her juicebox back onto the bedside table.

"We had our ups and our downs, but we didn't fight like cats and dogs either." Jessa honestly told her daughter. _God, she would overhear and witness some of those fights between me and her dad. Damnit, I never wanted hear to be affected by that._

"Oh, then tell me." The little girl pressed, wanting to hear about her mom's time living with Sam before she found out about the other men that could be her dad. Rosie wasn't a dumb girl, she knew that her mom and Sam had to have broken up sometime after college since there were two other men that her mom was involved with. She just wanted to hear more about contestant number one before they moved on to the next guy. Hey, she was trying to guess who became her dad so she needed to hear all kinds of things about her mom's boyfriends.

Jessa just let out a sigh. She wasn't intending to tell tidbits about her years living with Sam in college, but it looked like her daughter wasn't letting her get away from it. After mulling it over, Jessa suggested, "Hmm, how 'bout I tell you about when grandma and grandpa came to see me and didn't know that my roommate was really my fiancé." Biting back a chuckle, she added the fact of, "Actually, they didn't even know that I was engaged."

Rosie's indigo eyes, the same color her mother had, lit up with the promise of drama. "Ooo, mama, please tell me about that. Oh, it sounds like it'll be funny especially if grandma was off her meds."

"Rosie, just eat your fruit snacks and be quiet so I can tell you the story. Okay."

"Okay, mama." Rosie nodded, pulling a gummy bear out of her small bag and plopping it into her mouth.

"Well, it was my first summer in Kentucky and instead of going home to Oklahoma I chose to stay in Kentucky with Sam at the apartment he was renting. Well, my parents said they were fine me staying with my roommate, but in reality, they weren't."

"Ooo, this is gonna be so good. I really hope grandma's off her meds in this." Rosie let out in an excited squeal, causing her mother to tilt her head and give her a pointed look. Rosie just looked at her gummy bear bag, acting like she hadn't just interrupted her mother for the hundredth time.

* * *

**AN:**

**Maybe one more chapter with Jessa and Sam before it moves onto the next guy. Hmm, wonder who he could be?... Any more guesses on who Sam is? Anyways, I'm off to write more angst in Transcending Time. **


End file.
